Psychic staring effect

The "psychic staring effect" has been reported in crowded classrooms and lectures

The psychic staring effect (sometimes called scopaesthesia) is the claimed extrasensory ability of a person to detect being stared at. The idea was first explored by psychologist Edward B. Titchener in 1898 after students in his junior classes reported being able to "feel" when somebody was looking at them, even though they could not see this person. Titchener performed a series of laboratory experiments that found only negative results.[1] The effect has been the subject of contemporary attention from parapsychologists and other researchers from the 1980s onwards, most notably Rupert Sheldrake.[2][3][4]

The feeling is a common one, being reported by over two thirds of the students questioned in a 1913 study.[5]

  1. ^ Titchener, E. B. "The 'feeling of being stared at.'" Science, 1898, New series Volume 8, pages 895–897. Retrieved 28 February 2009
  2. ^ Rupert Sheldrake, Papers on The Sense of Being Stared At. Accessed 2008-05-28.
  3. ^ David F. Marks and John Colwell (2000). The Psychic Staring Effect: An Artifact of Pseudo Randomization. Skeptical Inquirer, 9/1/2000. [1]. Accessed 2010-15-5.
  4. ^ Lobach, E.; Bierman, D. (2004). "The Invisible Gaze: Three Attempts to Replicate Sheldrake's Staring Effects" (PDF). Proceedings of the 47th PA Convention. pp. 77–90. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-08-10. Retrieved 2007-07-30.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference coover was invoked but never defined (see the help page).